Cold hard facts

Editorial Manfred Schlösser, Editor-in-Chief PSI Journal – March 2025

The impact of advertising has never been as transparent as it is today. Programmatic advertising enables you to directly and precisely address target groups through transparent data on clicks, views, visits, sources and events. 87 per cent of marketers already use AI in their daily work. Advertisers can access performance data in real time and make adjustments to maximise campaign performance.

Even in the sports business, there are nowadays media analyses, social media monitoring, event tracking and brand lift studies. Traditional media such as print and television operate with reach analyses, tracking methods and extensive market research. These are all data that companies use to optimise their budget and resource allocation.

All these analyses and tools are on the rise. What is possible is being made possible. The days of gut instinct are long gone. Efficiency is particularly in demand in slowing markets, as advertising budgets are under increased scrutiny in many companies. Savings are being made, money is being pushed around and prices have rarely been handled as sensitively as they are today. This is understandable when the economies throughout Europe – with a few exceptions – are stagnating and trending downwards.

How can promotional products find their place in advertising spending? Yes, we know that the physical presence of this advertising medium can strengthen brand awareness and images more enduringly than advertising that whizzes by and is forgotten tomorrow. Haptic advertising works very well. But – and here it comes – we also have to prove it, especially when we are surrounded by data. The promotional products industry needs to open up and invest in market research and impact analyses again. In these times, competition with other forms of advertising demands this more than ever. The data and facts we have are good, but they are also outdated and insufficient for today’s demands. With our previous findings and market research, we can immerse ourselves into these analyses very confidently. Social media has not changed this. The impact of promotional products is almost unbeatable – we just need to be able to demonstrate this better and with more scientific accuracy. Associations with economic resources must lead the way in Europe in these times. If we pursue this path, companies and other market players will also get involved. It’s about time!